Shaping great debate

Cuomo enlists key political support for cuts as labor, human service groups rally

JIMMY VIELKIND and CASEY SEILER Capitol burea, Times Union

By JIMMY VIELKIND and CASEY SEILER Capitol bureau

Published 12:00 am, Friday, February 4, 2011

The Rev. Jim Reisner of Albany's Westminister Presbyterian Church speaks during a news conference held by GrowingTogetherNY to address what the group says is harmful cuts in the state budget at the Capitol in Albany Feb. 3,2011.( Michael P. Farrell/Times Union )

The Rev. Jim Reisner of Albany's Westminister Presbyterian Church...

Ron Deutsch , executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, speaks during a news conference held by GrowingTogetherNY to address what the group says is harmful cuts in the state budget at the Capitol in Albany Feb. 3,2011.( Michael P. Farrell/Times Union )

ALBANY -- February and March aren't usually peak travel months across New York. But the sheer number of groups planning to crisscross the state in the weeks ahead supporting or fighting Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 2011-12 budget proposal could shift the statistics.

Thursday brought news that the state Democratic Party would rally behind Cuomo as he pushes an austerity budget that cuts $9 billion but doesn't raise taxes.

State Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs said he and the party's executive director, Cuomo ally Charlie King, will travel the state to meet with officials and hold "certainly some large meetings" to build support for the budget. The party has also launched a website.

While it might be expected that the party would support a lifelong member and landslide-winning candidate, Democrats waited until after Cuomo had garnered support from the state Conservative Party, business coalitions and even tea party groups -- entities more accustomed to blasting Democrats than helping them.

One reason for the Democrats' delay may be that a solid chunk of its key constituents -- including legislators and unions that are reliably core supporters of party candidates -- are pushing Cuomo to extend an income tax surcharge on people earning more than $200,000 a year. The governor has said it should expire.

"I don't think that anything the party is doing is in any way going to make it difficult for legislators," said Jacobs. "The answer is yes, we're picking the side of the governor on the budget as a whole. ... That's who we elected, we all understood going into it what we were getting."

Also Thursday, Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay announced he would urge his 400,000 party members to speak out in support of Cuomo's budget. "The bottom line: It does exactly what is needed to put our state back on track," he said. "Over the next several weeks, we will see the regular group of special interests start again telling New York taxpayers that they should dig even deeper into their own pockets."

New Yorkers won't have to wait that long: GrowingTogetherNY, a coalition of groups allied against elements of Cuomo's budget, held its first news conference Thursday at the Capitol, where its members announced that they too will be touring the state.

"We are not here today to be confrontational to call the governor out, or anything of that sort," said Ron Deutsch of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness. "This is a democracy, (and) it's time for a healthy exchange of ideas around policy issues. And we will differ from the governor on how we should close this budget gap, and how this budget should be put together and formulated."

Deutsch called the end of the surcharge on the wealthy "a $5 billion tax cut to the wealthiest 2 to 3 percent of New Yorkers. ... When we talk about shared sacrifice, it seems we're talking about the least of our brothers and sisters in this state."

Labor leaders on hand included NYSUT's Vice President Andrew Pallotta, who called Cuomo's cuts to education "horrendous," especially combined with the potential impact of the governor's property tax cap, which passed the state Senate on Monday.

Ken Brynien of Public Employees Federation compared the state's predicament to a household that needs to cut its expenses while also seeking more income. "You work some overtime, maybe you get a second job -- because you realize that you just can't cut your way out of the problem," he said.

Asked if they disagreed with the governor's central thesis that New York's spending was growing at unsustainable rates, Frank Mauro of the Fiscal Policy Institute said, "The numbers aren't correct." He also noted education spending was in many ways driven by the result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity's 2006 court decision and the following year's legislation enhancing resources for public schools.

The Working Families Party, which after some hesitation gave Cuomo its ballot line, hasn't weighed in on the budget. Some of the party's major players are the United Federation of Teachers and SEIU 1199 unions, neither of which are delighted with Cuomo's proposed cuts to education aid and Medicaid spending.

On Thursday, Cuomo stole a march on his opponents by delivering his budget summary in Westchester County. He encouraged all members of the public to get involved in the debate over the state's fiscal future.

"I want them to make their voice heard. Democracy works when people speak up and people act," Cuomo said. "It's quite simple, but very powerful."